With the growing arsenal of targeted biologic therapies for severe asthma, managed care professionals are challenged with designing and implementing appropriate utilization criteria and medication therapy management (MTM) programs to improve patient care. In this dynamic webcast, leading asthma experts discuss case studies in severe asthma that highlight core issues in disease assessment, utilization of available biomarkers, therapy differentiation, and patient adherence. Insights into the latest evidence on the efficacy and safety of novel biologic agents and practical strategies for MTM can assist managed care professionals in effective decision-making within their organizations.

An Interdisciplinary Guide for Safer Care Transitions and Fewer Readmissions for Heart Failure

Despite significant treatment advances, new evidence, and recently updated guidelines, high rates of hospital readmissions and poor outcomes persist for patients with heart failure. Experts recognize the remarkable potential to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and improve patient outcomes through effective interventions at critical transition points to bridge gaps in care. Developed in partnership with the National Transitions of Care Coalition (NTOCC) and led by a multidisciplinary advisory board, this Heart Failure Transitions of Care (TOC) pathway provides essential interventions and tools to support system leaders and the interprofessional care team - including patients and their caregivers - in incorporating the latest evidence-based treatment and management approaches to ensure effective and safe transitions of care for patients with heart failure across healthcare settings.

With the advent of new treatment modalities that hold promise of improving patient outcomes, there is an expanding role of managed care professionals in facilitating appropriate access to therapies and promoting adherence, thereby improving the quality and cost-effectiveness of PAH care. In this webcast, a leading PAH physician and managed care expert address key challenges faced by health insurers and physicians in PAH management to help ensure the right treatment for the right patient.

With the high complexity and long-term nature of PAH management, development of collaborative treatment plans involving the clinical team, patient, and caregiver are essential. Join a renowned PAH expert, a PAH nurse specialist, and a patient/patient advocate in this webcast as they share their experiences and explore practical strategies for initiating patient discussions to identify needs/preferences in care and define treatment goals. The experts examine the latest evidence on new treatment options and indicators that suggest a change in therapy is warranted. Equipping patients for self-management, including appropriate actions to take in emergency situations and advance care planning is also discussed.

Around 800,000 people experience strokes in the US every year, and nearly 25% are recurrent events. A major risk factor for ischemic stroke is atrial fibrillation (AF). For people with AF, stroke risk can be reduced by 60-70% with anticoagulant medication. However, the recent PROSPER study revealed that 84% of more than 94,000 patients with AF who were admitted to hospitals for acute ischemic stroke had not been receiving guideline-directed therapeutic anticoagulation. This dynamic video activity is designed to support healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers, and other stakeholders in applying key findings from the PROSPER studies to improve outcomes for patients with AF and stroke risk. The expert panel features a lead researcher and a patient-investigator on the PROSPER team; clinicians who represent the interests of peers in primary care, cardiology, and pharmacy; and a nurse case manager, who addresses key issues in care coordination for ischemic stroke prevention and recovery. Five short companion videos feature focused discussions on specific applications of the unprecedented insights into anticoagulant medication use and patient-centered perspectives revealed through the PROSPER studies.

Clinical Insights on Patient Selection and Medication Management for Non-Statin Therapies in Hypercholesterolemia

Join experts in managed care, specialty pharmacy, cardiovascular outcomes and lipidology as they discuss and debate current challenges in lipid management, including standard practices, implications of new cardiovascular outcomes data, appropriate patient selection, and strategies to improve patient-centered care. Learners can navigate through versatile on-demand video activities including a dynamic panel discussion and short companion videos taking a deeper look at real-world patient experiences, applications of new and emerging data, navigating the prior authorization process, and practical pointers for administration and management of PCSK9 inhibitors.

With initial symptoms similar to other, more common conditions such as asthma, PAH can be difficult to recognize. In this webcast, a renowned PAH specialist discusses symptoms to watch for and presents guideline recommendations for timely PAH recognition and accurate diagnosis. The PAH specialist is joined by a PAH nurse expert and a patient advocate to share insights from their own experiences to engage patients from the time of diagnosis as well as practical strategies for effectively coordinating care with PAH specialists and accredited PH care centers.

What You Need to Know About the Guidelines for PAH: A Clinical Practice Guide

Guidelines for the treatment of PAH were released by CHEST (2014) and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and European Respiratory Society (ERS; 2015). This practice-oriented resource tool summarizes the most important updates for PAH, including recently approved therapies and recommendations for therapeutic regimens and implications for practice.

Better Transitions of Care to Bridge Gaps, Reduce Hospitalizations and Readmissions in IPF

For patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), gaps in transitions of care, care coordination, and interprofessional collaborative practice are often responsible for critical delays in diagnosis, referrals, and appropriate treatment initiation that can severely impact patient outcomes. With the goal of improving holistic transitions of care to minimize hospitalizations and readmissions, and to ensure incorporation of evidence-based treatment and management approaches, this IPF Transitions of Care (TOC) Pathway has been developed in partnership with the National Transitions of Care Coalition (NTOCC) and Case Management Society of America (CMSA). Developed by a multidisciplinary advisory board and designed for system leaders and the interprofessional care team – including patients with IPF and their caregivers – this IPF TOC Pathway incorporates essential interventions and tools designed to ensure effective and safe transitions of care for patients with IPF across healthcare settings.

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) supports comparative clinical effectiveness research that provides high-quality evidence to guide informed healthcare decisions. One of the unique aspects of PCORI-funded projects is their engagement of patients and other stakeholders—including caregivers, clinicians, insurers, training institutions, and hospitals and health systems—in all stages of the healthcare research process. PCORI has developed the Engagement Rubric, an activity-based guide for involving patients and stakeholders in planning, conducting, and disseminating comparative clinical effectiveness research. This interactive course features expert interviews and reflective exercises for applying the Engagement Rubric’s principles and activities in practice. Participants can adapt learning to projects involving research, quality improvement, clinical decision-making, and workflow processes in various healthcare settings.